NASCAR Cup Race - Nashville Superspeedway
It had been over 10 years since we'd been to a NASCAR Cup race. Now that NashVegas has a Cup Race at Nashville Superspeedway it made sense to Get 'Er Done! It was hot! It was also fun as crap! Few things are as entertaining as a NASCAR opening ceremony and the first few laps of a race. We got headsets, picked our drivers, and settled in for an afternoon of racing. My driver was looking good all day and was leading lap 299 of the 300-lap race. But after a rain delay and 5 (FIVE?!?) Green-White Checkers (and 30 extra laps of racing) the race finished after 6 hours with the only guy I didn't want to see win the race winning the race. Boo, Hiss! Regardless, we got our money's worth! Emily and I will now get in our RV and follow the NASCAR Cup Series around the nation! LOL
Disney's Epcot
We'd not been to DisneyWorld's Epcot in a long time. I found myself saying "I ain't ever done this before" a lot. Several new rides and a bunch of things that I'd simply never seen/done before. Some of it was because it was new/different. Some were because we weren't chasing kids around. Epcot as an adult with other adults (Emmaline and Zach) is a different experience than with little kiddos! Also, we were jealous of Max/Arden being in France (while we were there) so we spent the majority of our day in Disney/France! C'est la vie!
Silver Springs State Park
We visited Emmaline in Orlando and headed to Florida's first tourist attraction, Silver Springs State Park. It is home to the largest artesian spring in the northern hemisphere (Mammoth Springs) and some of the clearest blue water you'll see anywhere. We kayaked first and then took a glass-bottom boat tour. On the glass bottom boat tour, we saw a pretty large alligator laying on an island that we had just kayaked by earlier...and not seen at all. Which was somewhat disturbing. CHOMP!
Add to the scenario Dr. Jeff highlights (and I believe he is dead correct in his assessment) the following:
- Bitcoin on exchanges continues to decline (down to a new one year low of 2.4mm). Was 2.7mm when ETFs launched. Down from all time high of 3.2mm in March 2020.
- Halving cycle has given us a calm before the storm (with halving causing pain in the miner cohort). A lot of the supply the ETFs (and others) have been hoovering up has likely come from miner selling.
Liquidity Up and Supply Suffocation = Price Could Get Spicy!
Add to the scenario Dr. Jeff highlights below (and I believe he is dead correct in his assessment) the following:
- Bitcoin on exchanges continues to decline (down to a new one year low of 2.4mm). Was 2.7mm when ETFs launched. Down from all time high of 3.2mm in March 2020.
- Halving cycle has given us a calm before the storm (with halving causing pain in the miner cohort). A lot of the supply the ETFs (and others) have been hoovering up has likely come from miner selling.
Liquidity Up and Supply Suffocation = Price Could Get Spicy!
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Touring Bike Build For Bikepacking
The bike is built and the shakedown rides are completed (3 of them). I'm very happy with the way it turned out. I modified Emily's old '90s model Specialized Hard Rock mountain bike. It should be a fine starter bike for me to do a few overnight trips. This will help me see if doing bike tours / bikepacking is my thing. It is ready for a Fall '24 ride(s). I think I'm going to do an overnight trip on the Natchez Trace Parkway when the weather cools down a bit for my first overnight trip.
Back To My Hometown (Springfield, TN) Hunting The Bell Witch
Somehow my travels led me back to my hometown, Springfield TN, for a long weekend. I decided while I was there I'd do a little Bell Witch hunting. I'd watch movies and read books to learn about her evil ways. Then I'd go to Adams, TN to visit some sites. I was going to find her! I had plans to look for her while floating down the Red River and in the Bell Witch Cave. She cursed my efforts, however, and brought terrible weather. So, all my plans were dashed/shut down. Nice move Bell Witch...I'll get you next time! You haven't heard the last from me!
Our Last TN State Park (Big Ridge SP) AND Max's Graduation
Lots of stuff wrapped up on this weekend of RV'ing! We visited our last Tennessee State Park (Big Ridge State Park). With this last one we've visited all 58 Tennessee State Parks. We started RV'ing several years ago. It has been a lot of fun! This marks a BHAG (Big, Hairy, Audacious, Goal) off my list. Each of our four kids have joined us along the way at various times (making it even more fun). Molly had never stayed with us overnight but she did on this trip. I made her run the stinky slinky (at the sewer dump station) just so she'd get the full RV experience. LOL. We were in town for Max's graduation from UT Knoxville. This is our fourth child's (and final) college graduation. We didn't do much at Big Ridge SP. It was our landing pad and we burned up the road with my parents going to all the graduation activities in Knoxville. Then we moved Max home on our way home. I was tired of hearing about the 3rd Saturday of October of their junior year before the weekend was over (Roll Tide Roll)! What is next for DeanoRolls?!? Hmmm!?!
Kayaking To Burgess Falls State Park's Beautiful Waterfall
Burgess Falls State Park 2.0! We've visited this magnificent Tennessee waterfall from the top several times (on foot). We've never kayaked to it to see it from the bottom. At 136 feet tall (and at least that wide) it is absolutely beautiful. It has to be among the top waterfalls in Tennessee. It is a very fun (and relaxing) kayak adventure (highly recommended).
Printer ink refills
#inflation
Last purchased 2 years ago (Oct '22) for $115.78 now $134.76. +$18.98 or +16%. Same store, same register.
But inflation is running 3% according to the most recent CPI!
HMMM!?!?🤔
It must just be printer ink that is outpacing inflation!
🤡🌏
More to come IMHO!
For a “new asset” to come onto the scene and take in more money than one of the most successful recent strategies around is 🤯
PS - There are multiple Spot ETFs!
Funny that Vanguard chose to not allow their customers to buy these ETFs
HFSP!
Fidelity’s Spot ETF is number 8 on the list.
Full. Fucking. Send!
Tick tock, next block.
HODL
Disney's Magic Kingdom
We spent a full day chasing every ride at the best of the DisneyWorld theme parks, Magic Kingdom. I know it is the best because it had one of the best rides ever (Splash Mountain RIP) and because they sell Orange Fanta / Dole Whip Floats. Since I had two of those in our day there I know it is the best. Fact! The new Tron ride was okay too! It's not as good as the orange float, but good.
True "Inflation"
Everyone: [nothing...minding own business]
Deano: I wanted to know how 'everything/everyone' is being impacted by recent inflation. So I tried to make all that fit on one page!
Everyone: "Stop! Go to bed Deano!"
Disney's Animal Kingdom
We spent a day with Emmaline and Zach at Animal Kingdom. It had been a few years since we'd been there. Adult Disney with adult children is still fun (maybe more fun)! We also explored the real Florida kingdom on its oldest scenic boat tour (in Winter Park).
4 Awesome Waterfalls at Virgin Falls State Natural Area (Sparta, TN)
We spent a day waterfall hunting at Virgin Falls State Natural Area. It was a long day of hiking (10+ miles and 30k+ steps). It was worth every step, however. Tons of water was flowing across all four of the waterfalls we visited. My favorite waterfall wasn't even Virgin Falls. The water in the creek would appear and disappear at various times throughout the hike. The massive Virgin Falls waterfall disappears underground without even leaving a puddle. Weird. We had a picnic at Virgin Falls and then hit Martha's Pretty Point before ending our hike and resting our tired feet. This one has been on my list for a while. It was worth the wait! Adding this hike to the Epic Ground Pound List now!
Lots Of Hiking At Frozen Head State Park (Wartburg, TN)
Frozen Head State Park was our second-to-last TN state park. It has been on my list for a while (since it is a hiker's state park). It has about 50 miles of hiking trails. We knocked out 20 miles of those while there. It also was towards the end of the Tennessee state park list because I had to convince Emily that we could tent camp and remain married. We are normally RV'ers but this trip was perfect weather for tent camping and hiking! We'll go back to Frozen Head SP!
A Fifth of a Barkley Marathon (at Frozen Head State Park)
The Barkley Marathon is a secret 100-mile ultramarathon race at Tennessee's Frozen Head State Park each year. They do 5 20-mile loops (with 10,000+ feet of elevation gain per loop) within 60 hours. Very few humans have ever finished the race in its 38-year history. We tried to do 1 (one/uno) loop (1 fifth of a Barkley Marathon) within the same amount of time. 20+ miles and 4,500 feet of elevation gain got us in the neighborhood of one loop of a Barkley Marathon. One Loop. Was. Plenty. Enough. For. Me.
DeanoRolls Is Better Than Mr. Beast (1k Subscribers and 250k Views)
DeanoRolls has joined the upper 10% of YouTubers by passing 1,000 subscribers. I also just passed 250,000 views on my videos. I still have no clue why anyone would watch one of my videos. Regardless, the next stop is passing the most successful YouTuber of all time, Mr. Beast. Only 265 million more subscribers to go! My top 5 most-watched videos are an eclectic bunch. I use YouTube to store all my travel videos and as my "accountability partner" to keep my butt off the couch (by posting at least one video a week). Becoming a "YouTuber" has been a pleasant surprise that I didn't expect when I started dumping my videos onto the interwebs. If you watched, liked, subscribed, commented, shared, or endured an ad along the way -- thank you! Subscribe to see where DeanoRolls!
My Favorite 100 Paintings @ The Art Institute Of Chicago
I visited The Art Institute of Chicago while in town for a concert. They have over 300,000 works of art. Here are my favorite 100!
Orbital Concert In Chicago
It had been 23 years since my college roommate, Brent, and I had seen one of our favorite bands, ORBITAL. I know you've never heard of them. That doesn't change the fact that they are the best in the game. We headed to Chicago to see 1 of 2 shows they did in the US. Blake was with us back in 2001 the last time we saw them. He came with us again. We also took Keith with us (he'd never heard a note come from their electronic music boxes). What is he even doing with his life?!? They took the stage around midnight. This is extremely late for this 50+ year old. I'm not in rave party shape anymore! LOL It was a blast (from the past)! So. Fun.